“Of course not, I was just helping her! Get off me!"

“Don't you dare lie to me! We've heard her screaming, and we've seen how you held her in front of the void of bones! You were trying to kill her! "

Her claws began to dig deeper into the fur on my neck. Whiteblaze rise his claws and before I knew it, blood was running from my cheek. Blacksmoke caught his brother's paw in his jaws as her wound splatter some blood in my face.

"Blacksmoke, what are you doing?" Blacksmoke released his paw and the warrior fell back.

"Are you okay, Tigress? You're not hurt, are you? " Blacksmoke tended her paw and gently helped me to get up.

"N-no, I'm fine." I glanced at the white warrior, who was watching me with a murderous look. "Let me see your wound" Whiteblaze scratched the ground, his muscles tensed and showed me those white fangs in threat with that fur so bristly that it looked like a hedgehog "Blacksmoke stopped me with her tail and stood in front of me.

"Whiteblaze, you've got it wrong."

"How can you say that? Haven't you seen how she left you hanging from the void ?! She has only been in the clan for half a day and has almost killed someone. But don't worry, little sister, I know how to deal with this type of plague. ” He growled. The sun began to give way to the moon and its stars.

“If it weren't for her, I would already have been with StarClan by now, brother. Now, please save those claws. " she meowed in a firm voice as she stared at his brother with a calm expression. In that silence, a ray of moonlight crept through the clouds and illuminated us.

Whiteblaze sheathed her claws, looking at me with suspicion and anger, He whipped his tail. "And what have you been doing most of the day?"

"Hunt" answered her sister.

"Well, if the loner can literally spend half a day hunting, that means her wounds have already healed, so she should go."

"I was collecting herbs for HollyFur"

"Do you think I was born yesterday? What were you doing collecting herbs if you don't even knew what they are used for? Like if you were a medicine cat! ”. I showed my fangs and flicked my tail irritably. "Ask HollyFur if you don't believe me."

"Crystalstar told me to take her to hunt, besides, the one who must decide if her wounds have healed is HollyFur." Blacksmoke looked at the other warriors. “Angelwings, Maskclaws, I have buried some prey under the sun tree, can you take them back to the camp? I want to talk to my brother alone. "

Both warriors escorted me with them back to the sun meadow, where a couple of younger cats were waiting for them carrying prey in their mouths. I gathered the herbs and silently returned with the others to the camp.

"How was the day, dear? And what's up with that rotten apple face, did something happen? "

"I think that the word 'loner' is not to the like of some cats in this clan ... by the way, when Blacksmoke returns, could you please attend her? I'm worried about her injuries. ”HollyFur looked at me sweetly as she handed me some poppy seeds.

"I'll take care of it, dear. Go rest a bit, you look exhausted ”. I took them fast.

"Thanks, HollyFur and here" I put the herbs and flowers under his legs. HollyFur sniffed them, and then she licked my ear as I emerged from her den.

"Thank you dear." I turned around and came back, dragging my tail to my bed.

"What's the problem with that Whiteblaze ?! I just wanted to help ... ” I thought with my face buried between my paws, closing my eyes for a while, letting the sleep take away the events that had happened. I heard all the footsteps coming and going ... they all walked away from me.

I imagined being back in the barn with the high old walls that, since I was a kit, had given me the feeling of security ... Then I thought of Night, happily hunting the chubby mice and enjoying the golden wheat fields underneath the moonlight. I opened my eyes slightly to try to see the night sky between those crevices, but they weren't wide enough to see the sky well; I buried my face again I imagined the beautiful starry sky that I saw clearly every night sitting in the barn window and I remembered how I used to see it while my parents told me stories of the clan cats, how they bravely fought to follow the designs of their ancestors in star clan. I always listened carefully to those stories between my parent's kind purrs, gentle smiles and sweet voices ... that I'll never hear again.

Some tears began to fall down my face, when the smell of prey was planted out of nowhere in front of me. When I raised my head and I saw Lynxshine and her three kits watching me.

"Are you okay, Tigress?" Lightkit meowed.

"I think we have come at a bad time, we better go back to nursery."

"That's not fair! You told us we could eat with her if we stayed at the nursery without making a mess "Hopekit protest. " Tigress look! The Whiteblaze patrol has brought us fresh prey, do you want to eat with us?"

"Children, what did I say?"

"It's okay Lynxshine, don't worry," I meowed, wiping my tears with my tail.

"If your wounds hurt that much, I can go and call HollyFur"

"It's not that LynxShine, I just remembered something that struck a chord with me ... just that" my gut roared again, and the kits laughed, whiskers wagging as they snuggled around my tail. The cubs left a robin under my paws, while Lynxshine settled next to me.

"How was your day? I understand that my sister took you to hunt. "

“Yes, she showed me a little about the sun meadow. Your territory is really beautiful "

"Tomorrow we could go with Blacksmoke and Tigress to hunt mom? Please!"

"You already know the answer, Hopekit, and until you are apprentices you should stay here"

“But we still have another 4 moons for that! We want to explore! And surely Tigress can show us things beyond the territory and teach us how's a loner's life. "

"Listen to your mother, the loner life isn't as simple as you think"

"But Whiteblaze says loner cats are bad, they only cause trouble," said Lightkit.

"Even Whiteblaze can be wrong" a voice meowed

"Welcome back sister, come and sit with us"

“Have you already been to see HollyFur? How do you have the wound on your back? "

“I'm fine, Tigress, it was just one hit. Thanks for earlier, I'm sorry for how Whiteblaze has treated you. "

"I should give them to you, for defending me from him!" I said.

"By the way, I didn't know you knew of the star clan, Tigress." the warrior mewed. "They always mentioned it in the stories they told me about the clans, but this isn't the time for that ..... First you have to treat those wounds." After that, I grabbed the warrior's tail and dragged her to Hollyfur's den.

Several days passed where the only thing I could do without having the white warrior stuck in my throat like prey with a target, was to sleep and eat. If otherwise I tried to get close to Lynxshine, Blacksmoke or any other cat apart from HollyFur, he wouldn't let me breathe without being two tails from me. Usually, Lynxshine invited me to the nursery to talk and play with the kits.

Even so, I take the opportunity to watch what was happening in the camp, generally the leader was in charge of assigning the patrols and hunting parties, but when she was out leading one of the patrols the other cats resorted directly to Whiteblaze.

Once my wounds were healed enought to allow me to hunt without screamming in pain, Blacksmoke ask me to be her hunting partner, allowing me to get to know her a little better. Whiteblaze, on the contrary, if he wasn't patrolling or hunting, he was with his new hobby to watch over me 24/7. On one of those days, Blacksmoke and I went hunting in the sun meadow with her apprentice, Snowpaw.

"They're going to you, Tigress!" Snowpaw alerted as a couple of rabbits ran fast to my position, I licked my whiskers, I was already tasting the prey, I curled my tail around the branch on which I was climbing to just drop when one of the rabbits jumped up, and I caught him by the neck between my jaws. "Prey on the run!"

"Mine!" Blacksmoke meowed and swift as lightning crossed the trees to land with unsheathed claws, killing him with one blow.

"Good catch!" The apprentice's orange eyes shone with an air of admiration as the black cat returned with her ears and tails high through the bushes.

"I think we have enough prey for today, can you go to collect the prey that we buried, Snowpaw?" The apprentice nodded and was gone across the clearing in a matter of minutes.

"Another good hunt" the warrior's eyes shone with joy, tail fluttering in the air. "These days we have been able to bring a lot of prey to the camp thanks to your tricks"

"Glad to help ... but" my fur bristled when yet again I felt that furious emerald gaze nailed to the back of my neck through the trees. "Can we go get Snowpaw? I would like to go back to camp quickly "

Blacksmoke noticed the presence of her brother and threw a rabbit at his face. "Brother, you don't have something more important to do than harass Tigress? You haven't let her breath for days!"

The white apprentice was running back with some prey hanging from his snout, and with him, we started our way back to camp.

“I was just thinking about how there will soon be peace in the clan again. I have to admit that Hollyfur is a gifted medecine cat. " He laughs and went away into the forest.

"Tigress ... have you already thought what you will do?"

"About what?" I flapped my ears as we entered the stone tunnel. Snowpaw stepped forward, and with a purr he mewed "I want to take prey to the elders, can you take them to the queens and their kits?"

"Sure Snowpaw" I left my preys in the fresh kill pile, the last days it was bigger than usual.

From behind the fresh kill pile appeared Crystalstar. I lower my head. "Good morning, another successful hunting party from what I see"

"Good morning Crystalstar, it is thanks to the techniques that Tigress taught me, are very useful, she's a great hunting partner!"

"These techniques are somewhat forgotten by loners lately, so I thought they would help the clan." I admitted a bit embarrassed.

“I see that you are adjusting well in a short time. How are your injuries? "

"That's thanks to everyone is very nice to me, I am happy to help the clan. My injuries are doing well, thanks to Hollyfur"

"We're counting on you, then." Crystalstar shook her tail and turned to talk to other patrols.

I chose a couple of mice and rabbits carrying it with my tail, and together with Blacksmoke we brought us closer to the nursery. "Excuse me, we bring fresh prey, who's hungry?" I meowed with joy.

The nursery was inside a wide hole in the rock face, with the entrance covered with a liquen, branches and moss, both queens with their legs hidden under their fur, arranged in nests next to each other, but something did not fit ... the kits weren't there and the atmosphere was too ...... quiet.